|
|
Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc., 392 U.S. 390 (1968)
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc., 392 U.S. 390 (1968)
Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc. No. 618 Argued March 13, 1968 Decided June 17, 1968 392 U.S. 390
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
Syllabus
Petitioner operates community antenna television (CATV) systems which receive, amplify, and modulate signals from five television stations, convert them to different frequencies, and transmit them to their subscribers’ television sets. Petitioner does not edit the programs or originate any programs of its own. Respondent, which owns copyrights on several motion pictures, had licensed the five television stations to broadcast certain of these films. The licenses did not authorize carriage of the broadcasts by CATV, and in some instances specifically prohibited such carriage. Respondent sued petitioner, which had no copyright license from either respondent or the television stations, for copyright infringement, claiming violation of its exclusive rights under §§ 1(c) and (d) of the Copyright Act of 1909, to "perform . . . in public for profit" (nondramatic literary works) and to "perform . . . publicly" (dramatic works). Petitioner maintained that it did not "perform" the copyrighted works at all. The District Court ruled for respondent on the infringement issue, which was tried separately, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Held. Judicial construction of the Copyright Act, in the light of drastic technological changes, has treated broadcasters as exhibitors, who "perform," and viewers as members of the audience, who do not "perform," and, since petitioner’s CATV systems basically do no more than enhance the viewers’ capacity to receive the broadcast signals, the CATV systems fall within the category of viewers, and petitioner does not "perform" the programs that its systems receive and carry. Pp. 395-402.
377 F.2d 872, reversed.
Contents:
Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc., 392 U.S. 390 (1968) in 392 U.S. 390 392 U.S. 391. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XV31234LHUTVJND.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc., 392 U.S. 390 (1968), in 392 U.S. 390, page 392 U.S. 391. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XV31234LHUTVJND.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc., 392 U.S. 390 (1968). cited in 1968, 392 U.S. 390, pp.392 U.S. 391. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XV31234LHUTVJND.
|